'Free running' trend is 'awesome,' 'fun' and burns calories

Friday

Jul 22, 2011 at 12:01 AMJul 22, 2011 at 10:16 PM

Alec Thomas hasn't lifted a weight or exercised conventionally for two years. Still, he's maintained his wrestler's physique while losing 7 pounds. His secret is the French discipline parkour, which involves vaulting over, climbing on and swinging around objects often found in an urban landscape.

Farah Tamizuddin

Alec Thomas hasn't lifted a weight or exercised conventionally for two years. Still, he's maintained his wrestler's physique while losing 7 pounds.

His secret is the French discipline parkour, which involves vaulting over, climbing on and swinging around objects often found in an urban landscape.

Thomas, 20, who used to wrestle and play football, studies computer programming at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Ill. He has practiced parkour and the closely related "free running" at local parks and other public places for about three years.

"It makes the world seem 3-D," he says. "You see an obstacle and you can go over it, around it, under. The first week I started, I was looking at file cabinets a lot differently."

Parkour is getting from point A to point B as efficiently as possible, which often means vaulting over or going under obstacles rather than going around them. For example, dispensing with stairs if leaping from a balcony will get you there faster, or running halfway up a wall. Free running is more of a creative art, Thomas says.

Thomas says free running is similar to wrestling because "you use your entire body and need to build muscle." However, gymnastics is more closely related. "I wish I'd done gymnastics now," he says.

'An overwhelming joy'

Twenty-year-old Alec Thomas usually practices every day. From 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays, he and a group of fellow free runners meet. Once or twice, group members have been asked to leave either because they were on state property or someone (incorrectly) suspected them of vandalism.

At the park, crowds sometimes gather to watch, and the group has been asked if it is a performance troupe. One boy even asked Thomas for his autograph.

Thomas' favorite move is a kong vault, which is used to clear longer objects approached at a sprint.

Jacob Werschey, 18, who plans to attend Carthage College in Wisconsin this fall, said he wants to continue free running.

"There's an overwhelming joy when you do something right," he says.

He first heard of parkour via a video game. He looked into it and now practices frequently.

At first, Werschey jumped off rails at school with friends, but in March, he saw Thomas' group practicing. Later that month, Thomas created a free running Facebook event that drew about 18 people. About eight people show up most Sundays.

For Werschey, free running relieves stress.

"When you're going really fast, you can hear the wind in your ears. It feels like flying," he says.

It's not without its physical challenges. Werschey says he once broke his collarbone while free running. However, much of the challenge comes from conquering fear.

"Sometimes, you know physically you're able to do something, but you can't work up the mental aspect," Werschey says.

The encouragement of a non-competitive group helps. Thomas says he combats his fear of heights every day he practices.

"You have to figure out why you're afraid to do it," he says.

'Not just idiots jumping'

Kyle Ruple, 21, plans to join the U.S. Navy this summer and wants to continue free running as long as he can. He began eight months ago and says it is "by far the most fun I've ever had exercising."

He says he lost 40 pounds through free running and “Dance Dance Revolution,” an interactive video game. His favorite move is spinning around on his palm on top of an obstacle.

Werschey wishes people viewed playgrounds as acceptable places to exercise instead of a gym or track, which he says he finds boring.

"It's a physical discipline," he says. "We're not just idiots jumping off things."

The group is trying to get a class going at the local YMCA, but they are still working out the liability waiver. In the meantime, the group encourages beginners.

"It's really easy to get into," Werschey says. "At first, you'll get scrapes and bruises, but like anything, the more you do it the better you'll get."

Thomas likes teaching because it helps him learn moves, too.

"Everyone has a different way of doing things, sees obstacles in a different way," Thomas says.

Even when people do a move incorrectly, it can inspire new ideas about how to maneuver over or around things. Werschey says free running has changed his life.

Search for "parkour" on YouTube to see videos.
UrbanFreeFlow.com - includes online editions of Jump magazine and news from the international parkour/free running community.

Is free running legal?

Alec Thomas, 20, organizes local free running practices, and he says he believes free running is legal anywhere walking is allowed. He and his friends usually meet at parks, but they also try vaults and jumps on obstacles they come across in everyday life.

However, the activity may be new enough in most areas that local officials haven't had to deal with it yet. To stay on the safe side, free runner Jacob Werschey, 18, suggests avoiding private buildings and state property. Being found guilty of trespassing may come with a fine.